Coaching Blog

Sheryl Sandberg recently called on women to “lean in” – a manifesto (which I have no interest in reading) on women and the workplace. When she went on the interview circuits, I recalled a conversation I had with a friend, a high-level corporate attorney, and partner in a leading law firm.

We were gossiping (gasp!) about another friend of ours, a law school Princeton graduate who married, did not work, and focused instead on raising her children. Her husband informed his wife early on in their relationship that he wanted her to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. She agreed to forgo a career.

To my surprise, my friend said: “He saved her from a career. Who needs it? Her life is easier this way.” She looked a little sad.

Some people’s dreams are other people’s nightmares.

And we don’t really know what goes on in someone’s life, how they really feel and what they really dream of. What is probably true is that Sandberg is well-intentioned though I’m not so sure her book is relevant to women, working or not.

This is an old dilemma, and no solution can fit a whole population. Each of one us needs to come up with answers for themselves, their circumstances, their lives.

And if you look closely at the grass next door, well… it kind of looks similar to yours.